LANGLEY — Saturday brought another five games, wrapping up the wildcard round of the 2019 Subway Bowl B.C. High School Football championships.
First, a look at next week’s playoff bracket at both tiers, followed by our game reports. All quarterfinal dates, game times, and venues will be announced next week by the BCSSFA:
QUARTERFINALS
TRIPLE A
TOP HALF DRAW
QUADRANT A
Mt. Douglas (West-4) vs. St. Thomas More (East-1)
QUADRANT B
Kelowna (East-3) vs. Vancouver College (West-2)
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
QUADRANT C
Lord Tweedsmuir (East-2) vs. New Westminster (West-3)
QUADRANT D
Notre Dame (West-5) vs. South Delta (West-1)
DOUBLE A
TOP HALF DRAW
GAME A
Holy Cross (East-4) G.W. Graham (East-1)
GAME B
Clarence Fulton (Interior-2) vs. Langley (East-2)
BOTTOM HALF DRAW
GAME C
Robert Bateman (East-3) vs. Ballenas (West-1)
GAME D
Windsor (West-3) vs. Vernon (Interior-1)
SATURDAY
AAA
WILD-CARD ROUND
CARSON GRAHAM 21 at KELOWNA 62
KELOWNA — Nate Beauchemin went 17-of-22 for 325 yards and passed for five touchdowns, leading the host Owls into the Subway Bowl quarterfinals following a decisive win over North Vancouver’s Carson Graham Eagles.
“I am extremely proud of our players,” said Kelowna head coach Chris Cartwright. “It’s been an amazing journey so far and we are so proud of the growth that we have had. We’re very excited about our players playing at B.C. Place next week.”
Kelowna is set to face the red-hot Vancouver College Fighting Irish as the Final 8 moves under the dome next weekend.
Nolan Ulm caught 4 passes for 92 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown pass. Caeleb Schlachter caught two passes, both for scores, and finished with 117 yards in receptions on the evening.
Other touchdowns were scored by Kieran Koltun with two, and Colby Miletto. Nick Tonogai led the defence with 5.5 tackles
The Eagles were locked at 7-7 with the Owls after Ethan Paat hauled in a 47-yard reception from Lucas Granger. Jake Oseen’s five-yard touchdown from Granger pulled Carson Graham to within 21-13.
Granger went 26-of-52 for 352 yards. Kevean Pashandi had eight receptions for 128 yards, while James Curleigh had six receptions for 88 yards.
“Altogether, we got some valuable experience to help lay the foundation for a strong team of character next season,” said Carson head coach Brian Brady. “We lose six seniors, but we will be returning a significant amount of our team for next year. We’re looking forward to growing together as a program.”
RUTLAND 0 at VANCOUVER COLLEGE 62
VANCOUVER — The Vancouver College Fighting Irish are on an epic roll.
The Irish rolled out to a 52-point halftime lead, recorded six interceptions and roared into the Subway Bowl quarterfinal round after a decisive win over Kelowna’s visiting Rutland VooDoos.
“Our defence is healthy and playing great fundamental football,” said Irish head coach Todd Bernett. “They scored four first-half touchdowns just by doing their jobs and then being hungry with the ball in their hands. It felt like a feeding frenzy for a bunch of sharks out there. They all played fast and aggressive.”
On the day, 21 Irish players recorded primary tackles led by Colin McKellar and Colin Dolynski with four each.
Vancouver College opened the scoring with a 28-yard pass from Alex Nyvlt to Jackson Findlay.
Dolynski then returned a fumble 12 yards for a score, Tim Choi returned a pick 13 yards for another, and Dolynski recovered an end zone fumble to make it 28-0 after one quarter.
In the second quarter, Jayden Cheong on a 16-yard run, Findlay on a 20-yard reception from Nyvlt, Keijaun Johnson on a 35-yard pick-six and Daesaun Johnson on a two-yard run, did the Irish damage.
The only second-half touchdown came off a one-yard run by Christian McMahan.
“Offensively we had a good first drive, getting some chunks of yardage and finishing through the air with Nyvlt to Findlay,” summed Bernett. “It was grimy on some other drives. We could not get out of our own way on a few series, but overall a lot of our kids got touches and scored and can feel good about our offensive production.”
Raf Schincariol led the Irish with seven carries for 86 yards while Daesaun Johnson rushed eight times for 79 yards.
“We were unable to match the level of play that Vancouver College played at, and turned the ball over too many times in the first half,” said Rutland head coach Peter McCall.
NOTRE DAME 40 at ABBOTSFORD 13
ABBOTSFORD — The Tale of the Turnover unfolded in storybook fashion for the Notre Dame Jugglers.
The Jugglers, leading 14-13 at the time, came up with three key turnovers in the third quarter — one interception and two fumble recoveries — and all led to touchdowns in a decisive win over the host Panthers.
The victory propels Notre Dame into next week’s quarterfinal round at B.C. Place against the South Delta Sun Devils.
Notre Dame tailback/linebacker Vincenzo Nardulli had the biggest game of his high school career, scoring all six Jugglers’ touchdowns, including five along the ground, and the other on a 35-yard catch from quarterback Carmello Renzullo.
Nardulli’s scoring runs were from 15, six, two, eight and three yards. Kicker Brandon Torresan added four conversion kicks.
“A very gratifying win this afternoon as our guys bounced back from a tough outing in the Archbishops’ Cup versus Vancouver College,” said Notre Dame head coach Denis Kelly. “It was a total team effort. We were effective in all three phases of the game. We certainly were opportunistic when it came to taking advantages of Abbotsford’s miscues in the third quarter.
Notre Dame’s defence played an outstanding game, coming up with a total of four turnovers and getting to the quarterback all afternoon.
Safety Matt Battad played a great game, coming up with the key third-quarter interception.
Defensive linemen, including all-conference Anthony Bolanos, D.J. Mangat, Luca Brown and Austin Longstaff executed a well-designed game plan put forth by defensive co-ordinator Jordan Liberman.
Linebackers Nardulli, Caleb Hoey and the return of Ian Marin gave the Abbotsford backs plenty of difficulty all game long.
“South Delta presents a huge challenge but we will be ready to give them all they can handle,” said Kelly.
AA
WINDSOR 20 at NECHAKO VALLEY 8
PRINCE GEORGE — Ryan Werbowski rushed for 152 yards and quarterback Alek Giragosian passed for 200-plus yards as North Vancouver’s Dukes earned a quarterfinals berth next week against the No. 1-ranked, defending B.C. champion Vernon Panthers.
Windsor’s defence held off a strong, punishing run attack by the Vikings, aided by interceptions by both Kai Schooner and Nicolas Pelesh.
Battling hard on both sides of the ball were standout two-way lineman Darren Baker and Nathan Kelly.
CLARENCE FULTON 35 at COLLEGE HEIGHTS 8
PRINCE GEORGE — The long trip, the inclement weather… in the end none of it could stop the visiting Maroons from their appointed rounds on Saturday.
“It was a cold, snowy night in PG and our kids handled it well,” said Clarence Fulton head coach Mike Scheller, after the Maroons got cohesive offensive line play, and assertive leadership under centre from quarterback Quin Williamson.
“He a fantastic game for us,” said Scheller, after Williamson scored on a three-yard keeper and later struck on a 38-yard TD connection with Dylan Wapple. “He gave our offence a spark. The offensive line had a great game, too.”
Paving the way for a 350-yard rushing effort, that line saw dividends galore.
Wapple scored on a 24-yard run and Hayden Catt on runs of 25 and seven yards.
Williamson finished with 20 carries for 186 yards while Wapple and Catt combined for 15 carries for 112 yards.
“That was a tribute to the big dudes up front,” said Scheller. “Our defence also had a good game.”
Dayton Ingenhaag made 14 tackles, Seiji Bott seven, and Quaid Willett four. Bott also had a pair of sacks.
If you’re reading this story or viewing these photos on any website other than one belonging to a university athletic department, it has been taken without appropriate permission. In these challenging times, true journalism will survive only through your dedicated support and loyalty. VarsityLetters.ca and all of its exclusive content has been created to serve B.C.’s high school and university sports community with hard work, integrity and respect. Feel free to drop us a line any time at howardtsumura@gmail.com.
